I agree. I could spend a year looking for the "right" mill and not be able
to do anything in the meantime. If I buy an RF30 or mini mill or whatever,
I'll have the opportunity to make some stuff, experiment, and then buy
something better if I determine it's what I need. In the meantime I will
have learned a lot about machining and about what I prefer and want.
I understand that drill/mills aren't perfect, but there seem to be too many
people on the web that are using the RF30 and its ilk successfully (while
keeping in mind its limitations) to buy into the "mill/drills are useless"
argument.
Thanks,
Peter
"Bruce Simpson" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 8 Nov 2003 11:51:49 -0800, "Harold & Susan Vordos"
wrote:
My personal opinion is to stay away from miniature machines for projects
the
likes of yours. I'd also avoid, like the plague, mill drills, unless
you
budget simply can't stand the cost of something better. It's RARE to
find
someone that is satisfied with a mill drill if they're using it as a
milling
machine, not a drill press.
(puts hand up -- me me ! :-)
I've had an RF30 for about four years now and it's served me well.
True, it's got limitations compared to a knee mill but I've done an
awful lot of work on it and it has done everything I have asked of it
(bearing in mind that I am aware of its limitations).
For me the choice was to buy an RF30 and have enough money left over
to get some decent tooling, (rotary table, vice, clamping set,
collets, flycutter, boring head, inserts, milling cutters, etc, etc)
-- or to buy a knee mill and just spend my days looking at it and
wishing I had all the accessories needed to use it.
One should always remember that unless you're planning to use your
mill for production work or your income depends on it -- *any* mill is
better than no mill :-)
You can always sell a mill-drill later and upgrade to a *real* mill if
you want/need/can-afford to -- and then all that tooling and other
bits you bought can still be used.
--
you can contact me via http://aardvark.co.nz/contact/